THEORY OF GENERATION. 211 



remarked, though constantly victorious at Altcar, was not so 

 successful in Wiltshire and similar counties, owing probably to 

 her great length of stride. In regard to the reason for her Wilt- 

 shire failure, there may be a difference of opinion ; but, assuming 

 that it was as I believe, how are we likely to rectify the defect, 

 supposing it is the object to breed Wiltshire greyhounds from her ? 

 Now many would have advised her to be put to a good Wiltshire 

 short-running dog, such as c Fire Office ' or Wiltshire f Marquis,' 

 which are the very opposites to ( Cerito.' But the correct prin- 

 ciple, in my opinion, would have been to select a dog such as 

 6 Bedlamite,' who actually succeeded in getting ' Hopmarket,' 

 going somewhat in her style, but without her excessive and almost 

 overreaching mode of galloping ; or ' David,' who, I think, would 

 have been even more successful : in fact, to avoid the attempt to 

 unite the two extremes in a happy middle point, which I am con- 

 vinced will generally fail ; but, on the contrary, to tone down 

 superabundant action, or raise up deficient powers, by selecting a 

 cross exhibiting a tolerably near approach to the bitch, but either 

 a little above or below her standard, as the case may be, and 

 which, in her instance, I think, might have been found in the 

 stallion at the head of this chapter, if alive. The neglect of this 

 principle is the cause, in my belief, of the many failures in breed- 

 ing, not only in the first generation, but in all the subsequent 

 ones. Nothing is more common than to see a greyhound with the 

 fore-quarters of a thick lumpy dog, and the hind ones of a racer, 

 or vice versa. 



But it is also requisite to pay attention to the twelfth sec- 



p 2 



